{"id":520557,"date":"2025-10-22T21:28:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/520557\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T21:28:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:28:15","slug":"live-review-paradise-lost-the-garage-glasgow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/520557\/","title":{"rendered":"LIVE REVIEW: Paradise Lost @ The Garage, Glasgow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Goth metal founders\u00a0PARADISE LOST<\/strong>\u00a0return to\u00a0The Garage\u00a0<\/strong>in\u00a0Glasgow\u00a0to play another live show, following their last sighting in Scotland in 2022. The show tonight is completely sold out, a testament to the band\u2019s unwavering gothic legacy. Cleverly and selflessly, this tour curates a lineup that provides a catwalk for relevant younger acts to reach a fresh audience.<\/p>\n

\"HighHigh Parasite live @ The Garage, Glasgow. Photo Credit: Duncan McCall<\/p>\n

First on the stage is\u00a0HIGH PARASITE<\/strong>, the new collective by the very newly ex-MY DYING BRIDE<\/strong>\u00a0frontman\u00a0Aaron Stainthorpe<\/strong>. With such metal royalty, they\u2019ve leveraged a visibility boost that other new acts could only dream of; last year, they toured with\u00a0CRADLE OF FILTH<\/strong>, so they have already haunted the city and converted some fans.\u00a0While the group evocatively labels their music \u2018death pop\u2019, it\u2019s actually a well-worn gothic metal\/rock style.<\/p>\n

Opening with\u00a0Parasite<\/strong>\u00a0from their debut\u00a0Forever We Burn<\/strong><\/a>, the Yorkshiremen proceed to play almost all of the album. The record is similar to mid-era\u00a0PARADISE LOST<\/strong>\u00a0efforts, with rain-drenched melodic guitar leads from\u00a0Jonny Hunter<\/strong>, punchy mid-paced 2000s-era goth rock rhythms along the lines of\u00a069 EYES<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0HIM<\/strong>, and\u00a0Stainthorpe<\/strong>\u2019s defiant clean vocals (don\u2019t expect the pained singing of his former band), baritone goth crooning and raspy death metal growls. All the members headbang, and\u00a0Stainthorpe<\/strong>, contrastingly bedecked entirely in white, gives a nimble and emotive performance, despite the cramped space on stage, thanks to\u00a0PARADISE LOST<\/strong>\u2019s drum kit. Songs such as the insistent\u00a0Wasn\u2019t Human<\/strong>, the scathing\u00a0Let It Fail<\/strong>\u00a0and the varied closer\u00a0Forever We Burn<\/strong>\u00a0are highlights of their set. Despite only hitting the stage ten minutes after the doors open, the venue is busy, and the crowd is positively reactive to the openers.<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"MessaMessa live @ The Garage, Glasgow. Photo Credit: Duncan McCall<\/p>\n

Next up is Italian metallers\u00a0MESSA<\/strong>, who have been quietly garnering attention in underground circles with their devilishly stylish compositions. Their music spans a wealth of genres, including heavy metal, gothic metal, blues rock, doom metal, progressive rock and more. Their show begins with\u00a0Fire on the Roof<\/strong>, from their new album\u00a0The Spin<\/strong><\/a>, but the sound fails to serve the quartet, especially vocalist\u00a0Sara Bianchin<\/strong>. It takes a few tracks for the sound engineer to remedy this and the end result is commendable. Almost all of the set originates from\u00a0The Spin<\/strong>.\u00a0At Race\u00a0<\/strong>strikes with a nocturnal goth rock temperament, while\u00a0Immolation\u00a0<\/strong>is a tender vocal-led ballad that explodes with a heavy metal climax, and\u00a0Reveal<\/strong>\u2019s country-inspired start morphs into a bluesy strut, with bursts of furious double bass drumming and tremolo picking.<\/p>\n

While the music is fascinating and well-delivered, the only downside after the sound is clarified is that\u00a0Bianchin<\/strong>\u2019s stage presence is mostly static; she stands in the same place for the whole set, in contrast to\u00a0Stainthorpe<\/strong>,\u00a0and she looks like she\u2019s unsure of what to do during instrumental sections. This violently contrasts with the rigorous headbanging of guitarist\u00a0Alberto Piccolo<\/strong>\u00a0next to her. That said, this is something that\u00a0Bianchin\u00a0<\/strong>can easily learn to overcome and doesn\u2019t pull too much from their show. Final song\u00a0Thicker Blood<\/strong>\u00a0contains some quiet passages that annoyingly fall victim to people in the crowd chatting over the music. Still, the reaction that\u00a0MESSA\u00a0<\/strong>receives proves that the lion\u2019s share of the attendees appreciated their non-conforming yet cohesive take on fusing popular genres together.<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"ParadiseParadise Lost live @ The Garage, Glasgow. Photo Credit: Duncan McCall<\/p>\n

Finally, headliners\u00a0PARADISE LOST\u00a0<\/strong>grace the sold-out venue to cries of unbridled adulation. The five-piece kickstart the gloaming with\u00a0Serpent on the Cross<\/strong>\u00a0from the new album\u00a0Ascension<\/strong><\/a>. Armed with a deadly catchy guitar lead from\u00a0Greg\u00a0Mackintosh<\/strong>, it\u2019s clear to see why this song opens the full-length and their set. While reviews of the goths\u2019 17th album are mixed, this is certainly one of the best songs on the release, featuring vocalist\u00a0Nick Holmes<\/strong>\u2019\u00a0beloved death metal growls and a boisterous tempo set by drummer\u00a0Jeff Singer<\/strong>. The sound engineer\u2019s labour immediately hits the mark, providing a voluminous yet detailed result. Impressively, all but\u00a0Singer\u00a0<\/strong>have shared all of\u00a0PARADISE LOST<\/strong>\u2019s victories and defeats since its inception in 1988. Being in their mid-fifties, the lineup is highly energetic and fully devoted and engaged in the live show. That\u2019s certainly not something you can say for many bands that formed in that hedonistic decade.<\/p>\n

Of course, such a continuous active career means that picking setlists must be a challenge to placate all of their dedicated fanbase. Tonight, songs come from thirteen of their albums, a very broad representation of their discography, despite excluding their early death\/doom metal days:\u00a0Tragic Idol<\/strong>\u00a0showcases the gritty, aggressive side of the band with a\u00a0TYPE O NEGATIVE<\/strong>\u00a0influence, as does new song\u00a0Tyrant\u2019s Serenade<\/strong>.\u00a0One Second\u00a0<\/strong>shows off their foray into electronic-infusion. The muscular\u00a0Faith Divides Us \u2013 Death Unites Us\u00a0<\/strong>roars through\u00a0The Garage<\/strong>, while the divisive\u00a0DEPECHE MODE<\/strong>-coloured\u00a0Nothing Sacred<\/strong>\u00a0seeps through the venue. Despite the band\u2019s age, the songs beautifully match their recorded counterparts, including\u00a0Holmes<\/strong>\u2019 versatile growls, thrashy shouts, and lower-pitched vocals. The music never loses its grip on the desolate, spectral or brooding.<\/p>\n

\"ParadiseParadise Lost live @ The Garage, Glasgow. Photo Credit: Duncan McCall<\/p>\n

Fan favourite\u00a0Say Just Words<\/strong>\u00a0unfurls before allowing the Yorkshire lads to leave the stage. Of course, an encore is expected, and this consists of the bleak\u00a0No Celebration<\/strong>, the\u00a0SISTERS OF MERCY<\/strong>-tinged\u00a0Ghost\u00a0<\/strong>and wraps up with new song\u00a0Silence Like the Grave<\/strong>\u00a0(although the headliners would have harnessed a stronger impact if they\u2019d swapped this one with the track before it). Unlike most shows, the audience doesn\u2019t thin out at the back as people leave early to get a headstart on their journey home. With a set that lingers for an hour and a half,\u00a0PARADISE LOST\u00a0<\/strong>have once again cemented their position in the pantheon of goth metal icons. This night of unbridled dark romanticism leaves a deep impression on the fans, brimming with the highest accolades as they shuffle on to Glasgow\u2019s autumn streets.<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out our photo gallery of the night\u2019s action in Glasgow from Duncan McCall here:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like PARADISE LOST on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Goth metal founders\u00a0PARADISE LOST\u00a0return to\u00a0The Garage\u00a0in\u00a0Glasgow\u00a0to play another live show, following their last sighting in Scotland in 2022.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,918,4884,169309,32836,96027,712,169310,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-520557","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-glasgow","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-high-parasite","12":"tag-messa","13":"tag-paradise-lost","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-the-garage-glasgow","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115419946202649704","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}